Appeal launched for first out-of-hours youth homeless helpline

We have launched an appeal to fund a 24-hour youth homeless helpline in Wales, making sure that young homeless people across Wales are able to get help and support as soon as they need it.

The End Youth Homelessness Cymru campaign has launched the appeal following research which showed that 76% of young homeless people had not known where to turn for support when they first became homeless. Last year, young homeless people from Wales started a petition to the UK Government to fund a youth homeless helpline. Over 95,000 people signed the petition but there is still no 24 hour helpline for homeless young people.

The appeal is being backed by Hollywood Actor, Michael Sheen who has previously spoken about the shocking levels of youth homelessness. Our estimates show that over 7,000 people under the age of 25 ask for help with homelessness every year in Wales.

The appeal is aiming to raise £60,000 to run the helpline for a year. The helpline will be run by a mixture of paid staff and trained volunteers, and will give young people support and advice when they need it, and not just in the convenience of office hours.

Chief Executive of Llamau, Frances Beecher, said:

Young people very often don’t know where to go or what to do when they find themselves homeless. Why would they when they think it’s something that will never happen to them.

That’s why we’ve launched our appeal to run a 24 hour youth homeless helpline in Wales. We want young people to get help and support as soon as they need it, so that they can avoid the dangers and risks that come with being homeless for long periods of time.

A donation of £10.32 will run the Youth Homeless Helpline for an hour.